


A Sad Example

by GrimoireEmil



Category: Unsounded
Genre: I finally decided to go ahead an post it, Maybe - Freeform, This was for the contest at the start of 2018, because now I'm starting to feel, into fanfiction a little?, like I want to get back, on here, we'll see lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 15:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15799146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimoireEmil/pseuds/GrimoireEmil
Summary: Living with Mathis is hard. Really hard. And sometimes Matty get's tired of Mathis's drama.After an argument between Matty and Mathis, Matty storms off into town on his own, only to find out there are fates worse than being trapped in a giant ogre with Mathis.





	A Sad Example

            Matty stood next to the pile of twigs, dumbfounded. He felt no heat from it. Heard no cracking from it. There was no fire, but then again, what did he expect? He let the food pack that was slung over his shoulder drop to the ground and groaned in frustration.

            It was just cold enough in the forest to be uncomfortable. The canopy of trees that they were required to hide under, and Uiad’s long shadow basically blocked out any of the sun’s last bits of warmth, leaving only a chilling breeze to nip at him. Not only that, but he had bacon! Actual bacon in this pack that Papa had picked up in the last town, and he needed a fire to at least cook it. His stomach growled just thinking about the popping, sizzling meat over a warming fire and-

            He shook his head, aggravation replacing hunger. It wasn’t like Papa had taught Matty how to make a fire, warning he’d burn himself, and he most certainly did not teach him how to do it with Pymary.

            “Uaid!” Matty whined, throwing his hands up in frustration. If he was going to cook for the both of them, the least Papa could do is light a quick fire. It couldn’t be that hard. “Where did Papa go? I need fire.”

            Through Chitz, he could see the Mountain Ogre construct turn down from the bird’s nest he had been staring at to look at Matty. Uaid’s head tilted, confused for a moment like a baffled dog.

            “Please, Uaid, remember?” Matty pleaded. “But if you don’t it’s alright.”

            The shape of Uaid shifted, his army slowly lifting higher and higher until it pointed left. Matty mimicked it, pointing as well in the same direction.

            “That way?”

            Uaid grinned in response, and Matty set out.

            “Papa! Papa!” He took Chitz and scanned the forest, searching. “Papa!” It was hard sometimes, traversing thick woods like these. So many shapes just all blended together here, leaving him always at least a little unsure where he stepped. He had to move slowly to avoid tripping on some root or getting caught by a wily branch.

Then Chitz spotted him, resting against a tree, book in hand. A pen scribbled furiously, pausing only to be placed on his lower lip when lost in thought. Then returned again with vigor onto the pages.

“There you are! You didn’t respond.” Matty said.

“I’m busy,” Mathis did not even glancing up from his work.

            “But I want to make the bacon you bought.” A gust of wind chilled his skin, making him shiver. “And it’s cold.” He muttered under his breath. He wondered why Papa wasn’t cold either.

            Mathis’s pen stopped. He looked up, glaring. Matty stiffened, feeling the annoyance radiating from his father’s being. “Make yourself a sandwich. Save the bacon for dinner. You’re breaking my train of thought. I have money to worry about at the moment, unless you don’t want to see the Shartshanian beaches?”

            “We had sandwiches yesterday.”

            “So?”

            “And the day before that.”

            “What’s one more day?”

            Matty narrowed his eyes, unmoving. Mathis did not budge either. A standoff to see who would cave first, and Matty was the one who wanted wanted bacon. With no plans of caving, he began to think of negotiations. After all, it seemed at times this was the only way to get Papa to do anything.

            “I’ll share the bacon with you,” Matty offered. Quiet then returned between them.

            Finally, Mathis shut his book with a thump. “Fine. I just don’t see why you can’t light it.”

            Matty was incredulous! His jaw dropped. “You won’t teach me how!”

            But Mathis just waved a hand. Matty knew how to read all of this. His dad was in a mood, one where he won’t allow a single inch of concession without any kind of fight. It’s a wonder he caved this easily. He followed Papa with a knot in his gut, tense. It was like following a bear. One false move, and he worried that the bear would attack in a flurry of his claws, which was usually a raised voice and guilty feelings he did not like.

            Matty retraced the events of this morning in his head to see if he did anything to make Papa like this. He didn’t think he did, but “think” was the key word here.

            They came back to the clearing where the abandoned pile of sticks and Uaid sat patiently. Uaid’s hand was frozen half way from grabbing the bird’s nest he was once again intently staring at. When they came in, Uaid’s eyes shifted to Matty, who shook his head. Uaid’s hand fell slowly, as if giving Matty the chance to change his mind.

            It took little time at all. Matty knew the basics of what was going to happen. Mathis approached the sticks, and then he simply spoke words that Matty did not fully understand. Drawing heat from the beams of sunlight that would be filtering down from the tree tops into his hands, he delivered it to the tinder. The cold air may have limited the heat to draw from, but it was more than enough for this easy task. Matty could hear the crackles as the fire slowly became born from that heat aspect his father brought.

            “You could have just done that before you left,” Matty said without thinking below his breath. He couldn’t help be bitter. Somedays, being around his father was like walking through a field of glass, and it was steadily driving him mad.

            “Could’ve just eaten a sandwich.”

            “Papa! It’s cold!” Matty exclaimed.

            “Is it?” Mathis said. He looked around as if trying to see the cold, and since he could not see it, it was not there.

            “Why can’t you just teach me, then? If you just teach me how to do Pymary, I won’t ever have to bother you to do it!”

            Mathis barked a laugh, and exaggeratedly slapped his thigh. “That’s a good one, Matty. Bring me some bacon when it’s all ready. I’ll be where I was.”

            “Why?” Matty shouted.

            Mathis stopped in his tracks. “Hm?”

            “Why not? I want be a Wright and-“

            “Matty, I’m sorry to interrupt what was probably going to be another eloquent attempt at persuasion, but my answer will always be no, and I do not have to explain myself because I’m you father and you need to listen! I lit the fire, that’s that, now stop bugging me over this!”

            “But that’s not fair! You get mad at me for asking you to do Pymary and mad at me for asking how can I do it myself!”

            “I don’t care if it’s not fair!”

            Finally, Matty was at his tipping point, and screamed “Why not!? You don’t ever make sense! If you’re going to be mean all the time, go away!”

Mathis stood rigid as Matty stood there panting. He felt a burning in his cheeks, his frustration having yet to subside.

“Fine,” his father said, straightening out his clothes. “I’ll be in town, and you may go about on your own since you seem to know so much. At least, stay with Uaid.” Then, he simply turned and began to disappear among the trees.

Matty’s eyes went wide with the implications of what he had done. “Wait! Are you coming back?” he shouted after his dad. “Where are you going?! Don’t go!” Matty’s hand froze reaching out as if to grab Mathis.

“Are you coming back?” he felt panic rise in his belly and struggled to keep it pushed down. He had made empty threats like this before, to leave and never come back, but Matty never knew when one of those threats would be the for real.

            “Maybe!” Was all Mathis said before the trees enveloped him.

A beat, then Matty’s arm fell limp to his side. “I thought you were worried about money!” He yelled back with a huff and turned to face the fire.

            “Fine. I’ll make bacon sandwiches, and he won’t have any!”

            Matty knelt and undid the latches of the food bag with a click. Out Matty pulled the bacon to fry, the pan, vegetables… but no bread. No bread for sandwiches anyway. “Make sandwiches, Matty!” he said, mimicking Mathis’s voice. “Make sandwiches… With no bread!”

            He heard a rustling from above, and instinctively craned his head to it. Then, reached for Chitz to look up as well. Uaid was rustling the trees, grabbing handfuls of leaves, his face contorted in worry. Like a generous donation, Uaid offered the leaves to Matty, some spilling into the fire and causing smoke to wisp into Matty’s face.

            “I can’t make sandwiches from leaves, Uaid,” Matty pouted, and gently pushed the giant hand away. As if to counter his point, Uaid put two leaves together and ate them like delicacy pinched between his thumb and index finger. “Still no.”

            He fell back onto his butt, thinking. He could just fry it all up and eat, and then sit around, waiting for Papa to return in who knows how long. Or. He could and get bread, actually doing something instead. He could head into town with the few spare coins that they always kept around in Uaid, then buy some super, nice bread. A smile widened on his face as he imagined the steaming, hot bread, crunching deliciously. It'd been a while since he had anything like that. It’s been a while since he’d been in a town besides! Papa shouldn’t be the only one with that privilege.

            “Uaid!” he called out. “Can you get me the coin purse?”

            Uaid reached in and nabbed it gently between two fingers and slowly brought it over. It thumped right into Matty’s lap. Now with purse firmly in hand, he repacked the bag, stood, and dusted his pants. He wasn’t exactly sure how this plan would actually go down. But he knew one thing for sure. If Papa wasn’t going to teach him anything, he’d have to learn to do things himself!

            Trying to muster his most adult pose and voice, he turned to Uaid and said, “Stay here. I want bread.” He pointed sternly at the ground. Uaid, in his usual slow way, mimicked the gesture. “Here, yes. And watch the fire. Make sure it doesn’t spread or anything. Papa won’t relight it probably.” Matty hoped that he understood as he followed his father’s trail towards town.

            That alone was rough going. It wasn’t like he knew where town was in the first place. He didn’t even know its name! He headed as straight as he could, hoping that, since he thought he was heading in the general right direction, something would tip him off on where the town actually was. Sure enough, as he started to feel doubt about this whole plan of his, the scattered wisps of chatter flitted through the brush and trees. Matty perked his ears to it, attentive to the noise. People, animals, carts, all joined in a mash of civilization. He adjusted course and followed the noise. Soon, mingling with the noise was smell. The trees began to thin, and were eventually replaced by fence and fence posts. He followed that, circling until he found and opening.

            He stood at that opening, which was really just a place where wooden planks had fallen from their posts at an angle.

            “We can do this, Chitz,” he said taking a breath. Anxiety and stress he was familiar with screamed warning. These feelings were not entirely sure Matty could handle it. Just being this close to the raucous sound felt… overwhelming. He felt like he was about to enter a place he didn’t belong, and should just turn around and wait patiently for Papa to return. Surely this cranky mood wouldn’t last and they’d be back on the road to Sharteshane in a flash.

            He shook his head, using his experience in the fight of ignoring the feelingsH needed to do this. Just get bread, and get out, no big deal. He’s bought things for himself before. It’s just not knowing where his Papa was that had his nerves in a knot, and why would he need to know that if he was just getting bread?

            “I’m not a little kid…” he told himself, and took a step over the fence and into the town.

            The fence was behind a row of buildings, leaving him facing brick walls with torn and rotting posters on them. Breaking the walls was an alley, stretching further than he thought it had any right to, but he moved through that space regardless, maneuvering around the garbage that lined the curb. He took Chitz off of his shoulder and clutched them tight in his hands. The sound of people was still heard, but oddly echoed and ominous. He was relieved when he made it out without some giant rodent jumping out at him.

            The street he exited on was fairly calm. Houses ran down the road with gardens or trees interspersed between them. A few people walked to and from wherever they were going, hardly a crowd like his ears told him. He was sure they were staring at him. People always did, like they had never seen a plat in their life. Maybe they haven’t. Papa always said so.

            Either way, he knew he’d find no bakery here. He put on his best airs of knowing what he was doing, and headed on, Chitz scanning for a side road to walk down. Frequently, he hands darted to the coin bag, ensuring it was still on his person.

            Since he had no idea where he was going in the first place, he thought there was no harm in just turning down every side road that didn’t seem shady. It turned out this town was big enough to be overwhelming, but small enough that even he could just wander and find his way to the hot spot of town. Leaving one road, he suddenly found himself met with a mass of humanity. The sound was loudest here, shopkeeps hawking their wares, carts bumping as their drivers shouted, and people chatting like crowds didn’t have to split around them. How a town like this could have so many people, Matty did not know, but it was clear this town was just barely not a city if anything.

            He ducked into the crowd and followed his nose more than anything. Using Chitz to make out the vague shapes of the stalls, he needed his other sense to make sure they were selling what he was looking to buy. He smelled salty fish, sizzling meats, and sweets galore (which took some willpower to resist), but bread remained surprisingly elusive in the section of town he was in.

            “Boy! Plat!” he heard shouted behind him. He turned, and a stout man was waving at him from behind a stall. “Would you be interested in my toys? They’re cheap! Right within any child’s allowance.”

            Matty started to turn away. One hand tightened on the coin purse, and the other on Chitz. “No, sorry. I’m looking for bread.”

            But the toy seller didn’t seem to care, continuing his pitch undeterred. Matty ignored him, feeling rude for doing so, and continued on his path. He really wished he could afford to-

            “LOOK OUT!”

            Everything happened in slow motion. Matty suddenly found himself facing a wagon and a haywire hound. They charged full speed at him. The crowd parted to avoid getting run over. Matty couldn’t move. He was right in the middle of the path, and the hound cared not. Left or right? Should he just try and lay flat? Would it roll over him? The cart was close, and his mind was screaming at his feet to just-

            “MOVE!”

            The voice startled him, and suddenly a weight slammed into him. He was thrown from his feet, Chitz and the coin purse nearly flying from his hands. He thought, for a moment, the cart had hit him and that would be that… but the force had come from his side. When he slammed on the ground, his head hit first, knocking with a _thump_ on the packed road. His arm dug right into his rib, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him gasping and closing his eyes in pain. The weight was still on top of him, but he could hear the cart rumble on, the dog barking and snarling with a fury. Then a voice running behind it, screaming “Look out! He got spooked! Look out!!”

            The calm. Citizens returned to their daily rituals, as Matty gulped and gasped on the ground. “Hey.” Matty heard, and felt his body being straightened out. He still gulped air furiously, trying to refill his lungs. “Hey, hey, just breath, you’ll be OK. I’m so sorry, so sorry, but if I didn’t that thing would’ve killed ya. You breathing ok? Nothing broke?”

            Matty wanted to answer, and even tried to form words vaguely resembling “can’t breathe” but every effort to talk made breathing harder so he stopped. Over him was a boy with a messy mop of hair. Judging by the boy’s size, he did not look much older than Matty was, and the way he was over Matty, cautiously looking back at the road as if anticipating further threat, made Matty believe that there was no threat above him.

            Matty calmed when he realized this, breathing, letting the panic pass. He realized he had felt this before when he had tried to balance on a fence and fallen into the road back home. Just breathe, his mom had said to him, just breathe because he had the air knocked out of him. He wouldn’t die though it felt like it. Soon the air came back to him, and he managed to squeak out, “I’m OK.”

            The boy turned back to look at Matty, and he pushed a hand through his hair. “Oh, thank goodness. I was worried you broke a bone or something.”

            Gently, he helped Matty sit up. Matty checked in his hands, glad to see Chitz and the coin purse still intact.

            “Your hat.” The boy thrust a hand towards him with the hat grasped in it. A little bend, it looked, and probably dirty, but no worse-for-wear. He took it, grateful; dusted it off; and placed it on his head.

            “Thank you for saving me.” Matty said, trying to stand. His head spun a little, so he sat back down. Then when his legs felt up to it, he tried again and managed to get upright.

            “Of course, couldn’t just let ya go flat. Names Linel! Nice to meet you!” Matty noticed Linel offering a handshake, so he took it, more so he didn’t feel rude than fully processing the gesture.

            “Matty.” He responded.  

            “Now, why are you out here alone, Matty?”

            Confused, Matty held up the coin purse. “Shopping. I want bread.” He figured that’d be obvious. The shopping part at least. This seemed like that’d be the only thing people would do on a road full of merchants, stalls, and stores.

            “I won’t ask where you got the coin.” Matty cocked his head, confused, at that comment, but Linel kept on talking without allowing Matty to question him. “Where are you staying tonight? I’ve never seen you in town before, and I know a buncha faces. For example, that wasn’t the first time that guy lost control of his hound.”

            “Oh, well, I guess I’m staying in the forest over there. Papa said that Plats don’t blend in well…”

            “Your Papa? Where’s he then?”

            “I-I dunno…” Matty shifted on his feet, feeling strangely guilty, and maybe it was the way this guy spoke or the hard knock on his head, but his mouth let a bit more slip. “He got mad and left me so I just wanted bread to go with bacon.”

            A reassuring hand fell on Matty’s shoulder. “Come on,” Linel said. “Let’s get ya out of the street. It ain’t great, but I got a little place you can stay till whatever is going on with you Pa blows over. I got some bread too, so you don’t have to spend that coin and make things worse, OK? The forest isn’t the best place to be alone.”

            “Oh, I’m not alone, I have U-“

            The hand patted his shoulder, and he thought he heard Linel chuckle. “I’m sure, but we gotta take care of you first, OK?”

            Matty cocked an eyebrow, completely befuddled.

            “Come on!” Linel shouted before Matty could clear the air, and his wrist was suddenly jerked. Matty stumbled after him. He found it hard to keep up as they began to make their way down an alley, narrowly dodging the random objects that lined the grimy way. Matty found himself wondering why there were so many dang alleys here in this town and also knowing that if he ever saw an alley again after today, he’d probably elect not to take it. It didn’t help that the sound of running water too made itself clear to Matty, and often he felt it running over his shoes. He found himself dodging many small channels that flowed into drains.

            “Wait. Slow down!” Matty stammered, but Linel did not seem to hear.

            To make matters worse, the ground here was strangely slimy, like perhaps some mold or algae had found its home on the wet earth and stone. Finally, the balancing act became too much, and Matty’s foot landed firmly on a discarded liquor bottle. It rolled from under his foot, causing him to go sprawling. Linel halted on a dime and spun to help him up, but not before the water and grime coated Matty’s clothes. Also, his back was starting to hurt from all the falling. He figured there’d be a massive bruise there in the morning.

            “I’m sorry I didn’t think you would-“ Linel began to apologize again for his roughness, but halted himself. Matty saw his face get close to him, inspecting, and Matty knew exactly what Linel was doing. Linal made the grand accusation Matty knew was coming. “Wait, are you blind?”

            “Yes.” Matty stammered, trying to wipe some of the ick off his clothes. “Well, no. I can see. But not normally. I…” Matty tried to shut himself up before he explained everything, but realized he had rambled himself into a dead-end that would only bring questions. Today was not a good day for keeping the secrets he was supposed to. “I see with Chitz,” he mumbled and wiggled the bag in his hand.

            “Chitz? That bean-bag? What in the world…? Is it a pymaric? Matty, be glad you found me, a blind boy carrying a pymaric all by himself? Recipe for disaster.” And reached for Matty’s hand. Matty yanked it away.

            “Where are you taking me?” Matty dug his heels in finally. He was wet, colder now, and getting pretty frightened. One way or another he’d figure out why this stranger was dragging him down alleys after saving his life.

            “Yeah, okay, I know how this looks. This is gonna require some trust here.”

            “I’ve only just met you though!”

            “Look, I promise, I swear, that nothing is going to force you to go against your will. Where I’m taking you, if you want to leave, feel free to leave. If you want to leave now, go. Go back to the forest and wait for your Pa who could be nice again suddenly or mean. But I know one thing. That sounds lonely. And I just want to show you a place for kids like us.”

            That stung. Matty shifted on his feet. It’d been how long since he’s seen a kid his own age, talked with a kid his own age. It’d always been his Papa who wasn’t the best to talk about things that weren’t serious with. “Kids like us?” he asked

            Linel nodded. “Exactly. A bunch of kid with broken homes or no homes who decided family was what you make it. Could be nice to just spend the evening with us, huh?”

            Matty didn’t answer, falling silent.

            “A Plat kid shouldn’t be this far south unless something was deeply wrong.”

            That was the heart of it. Something was always wrong. Matty squinted at Linel, and said “Just the evening,” even though some, distant part of him was saying “Run away with them.”

            Linel grinned and led on at a slower pace. The path seemed to take them farther and farther to the town’s outskirts.

            “Here we are,” Linel said, putting his hands to his hips.

            Only “Here” seemed to be a dead end with garbage everywhere. It was quiet besides for the strays who looked at them with disinterest. A chill ran down Matty’s spine.

            “We are?”

            “Sure.” Linel moved to a wall and crouched. On a plank of wood, he knocked three quick times, paused, then three slower than the last. There was quiet, then a crash. He heard the pattering of feet and then the board started to shake and shift. _Bang, Bang, Bang!_ The board slowly moved from its place until it fell flat on the ground. Taking its place, a small face poked out with long, ruffled hair.

            “Linel’s back!” The girl exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. Suddenly an excited rumble of voices came from the hole. “Did the doctor say anything, Linel? Did he? Did he?” She was practically bouncing out of the hole.

            “I’ll explain when I get in, OK? Will you please move a little, Liza?”

            She began to shift away without hesitation, when her eyes caught on Matty. “Who’s this? A new member? What’s his name?!”

            “Liza. In.”

            “Fine!” She groaned and slipped in, but not before shouting inside “There’s a new kid guys!”

            Linel chuckled. “Don’t let her get to you, OK? Just stick close behind me.”

            Linel ducked in, but Matty didn’t follow. He looked behind him, wondering if he even knew how to get back to the main road. He knew he was in too deep. If Mathis returned to Uaid and didn’t find him, he’d be in so much trouble. He then remembered he got in trouble just because he asked for a fire, and set his resolve. Maybe Papa deserved to worry a little bit. Besides, Linel seemed caring in a way Matty longed for. He followed Linel into the hole, trying not to snag his pants on the jagged wood the plank had covered.

            He would have fallen in if Linel has not been there to catch hold of his waist and help him down. The lighting was dim here, illuminated only by faint torches, but it was enough to see the space looked to be an abandoned basement. He noticed a tiny crate pushed against the wall under the hole, and figured that was how Liza had reached the plank to open it up for them. Matty heard a bang, and saw Linel shifting the plank back into place, maneuvering it so the nails slid back into their holes. 

            And then felt a tickling on his neck. He turned, and saw all eyes were on him. From kids smaller to him to those that seemed near to being teenagers, they seemed to be studying him, trying to figure him out. Well most were. On bedrolls to the back of the basement were two children, a small boy and an older girl, sleeping with wet cloths laid flat on their foreheads. Sick for sure.

            But things did not look so sad there. The walls were decorated, covered in crafts that some of them had done. Boxes and crates lines the walls, and from the site of a boy reaching into one of the barrels with a handful of small fruits in his hand, it seemed that these were for food. They were not going hungry.

            “The doctor said he’d come, but he can’t come today. I tried to get him to get here quicker, but… well he looked pretty busy. So I think he has to worry about other people first.” Linel announced to everyone.

            “I bet most of them are just there because their tummy’s are upset and that’s it,” the boy with the fruit grumbled.

            “And who’s he?!” A girl shouted. She sat on the staircase, leading up to whatever was above them. Matty hoped it wasn’t a person’s home. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, but seemed to be roughly cut, the hair jutting out the tie wildly. She had a big mouth with a front tooth missing. She looked no younger than Linel. “Linel, we said that we can’t have anyone new!”

            “It’s just one more, Fin.” Cutting off Fin, he turned to Matty. “This is the Basement. We took it over after the store above burned down. No one bothered to rebuild it, so we just took over.”

            “And as you can see!” Suddenly, Matty saw Fin striding towards them. “We’re low on space and have two sick kids. Now you’re gonna drag in a Plat? That’s trouble, Linel, if I ever saw it.” She sighed, and bent over slightly to stare into Matty’s face. He recoiled, holding Chitz up as a barrier. “And blind to boot. Why you here? Homeless? Shitty parents?”

            She straightened up, then whispered to Linel. “Why did he cringe though? He seems blind, but how’d he see me.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” Linel responded. “And besides, he isn’t definitely going to stay. He just looked like he needed company and-“

            “So we’re giving tours now?!”

            “Back off, Fin!” Shouted a girl in the back who looked taller than Fin and Linel. Maybe older, but she didn’t carry the air of leadership as Fin and Linel did.

            That’s when the coughing began.

            The two kids on the ground began hacking and wheezing violently. Fin dropped her cruel pretenses and rushed over to crouch by their side. She no longer looked like a child. She spoke in a way that reminded Matty sorely of his Mama, grown up and loving. A hand clenched on Matty’s shoulder, and at first he thought and adult had found their way in before realizing it was Linel, comforting him too.

            He took Matty off to the side, and sat him on a crate. In a low voice, he began to explain. “Look, I know how this looks but… This is better than where they were. Where all of us were. I don’t think it’s, well, right to go into details about where we all came from, but you need an idea. My parents died. Fin’s were, well, cruel to say the least. She ran away with me, and we started this operation. The rest of the kids? Like I said, some have no parents, living on the streets. We saved them. It’s really, really hard for a kid to make it, you know?”

            “But I have a dad…” Matty interrupted. “He’s just.”

            “Some of them come from bad dads, bad moms. It’s not perfect, you caught us at a bad time I guess, but we’re family too. We help each other.”

            It was really hard for Matty to remember Linel was only a few years older than he was. Linel spoke so confidently, so maturely, he sounded more grown up than his own Papa. And kinder.

            “Do you want to talk about what’s going on with your Pa? If not, I get it. ”

            Matty looked to the sick kids. Fin worried quickly over them, trying everything she could to settle their coughs, which slowly subsided.

            Then the kid on the barrel who was eating fruit started to cough.

            “Shit,” he heard Linel whisper. The voice shook, breaking, revealing a worried layer Matty could more closely relate to.

            Fin stood and quickly grabbed the kid on the barrel. “Are you sick too?”

            The boy shook his head.

            “Are you lying?”

            Pause. Then the boy shrugged.

            And despite all of this, as Fin began to check him, Matty remembered his Mama doing the same. She’d lay him down, ask him questions, pin point the source. Sometimes, all it took was a little Pymary to ease the symptoms, other times it was a bowl of soup and sleep, but she always knew the fix. Was Fin like his Mama was or did Fin need one? Matty was not sure. His Papa was never really good at doing what Fin was doing. He’d certainly try, and he’d get Matty what he needed. But it was always done in a huff and a fuss. Frustration at the world leaking into his care. If he got sick, and it wasn’t that bad, Matty now would try to hide it. Better that than feeling guilty.

            Anger began to bubble in his gut. Why was this so hard? Why was it so hard to care? If kids only a little older than him can care for each other, why can’t his papa? He could see how abnormal it was that he had to hide that he was sick!

            Lost in thought, he failed to notice when Fin had turned to look at him. He had Chitz pointing to Fin and the newly sick boy, looking but at the same time not, and the coin purse settled right behind the bean bag.

            “Linel can you come see?” she said.

            “Sure,” Linel said, patting Matty. “Hold tight, I’ll be right back. Fin, I don’t know what you expect me to find. You know more about this than I do.”

            “Just, I need a second opinion.”

            “Sure, what’s up?” He took his spot besides Fin, and for a moment, peace settled. The rest of the kids started coming to Matty, asking him questions that Matty did not know how to really answer in full. What was it like up in Alderolde? Was here any different from there? Were horrid rumors they heard true? Matty tried his best, and they were perfectly nice to him in return. In fact, he started to enjoy having some people his own age to talk to, and even started to ask them questions back. One kid even offered Matty a cinnamon stick favorite, and he munched on it idly as he told them about how cool wrights could be. The more he stayed, the more feasible it seemed to him to just stay here. Surely Papa wouldn’t miss him, but maybe Uaid would…

            Then the crowd parted.

            Standing in front of him was Fin. Linel sat alone, checking the sick boy’s throat.

            “That’s a pymric.” She said. He thought he heard her voice shake.

            “It’s-“ But Matty caught himself. He didn’t need to tell Fin all of what he told Linel.

            “It’s a pymric that lets you sense what’s around you or something, ain’t it?”

            Matty said nothing. He didn’t have the chance. Seconds after she spoke, she pounced. Matty was caught off guard, and shoved so hard, his head hit the back wall. Some distant part of him recalled the earlier time his head slammed the floor and the falls on his back, and he wondered how much more abuse he could take. He felt her hands, stronger than his by far, tear open his grasp on Chitz and the money.

            “No!” He shouted, and tried to get up after her. Her hands returned, violently shoving him back down.

            He heard the sound of the board being shoved out of the way, landing with a thud outside. Shouts, as the kids around him reacted to the theft. Loudest of all was Linel, who swore and cursed at Fin madly. Linel’s shouting grew closer, as Matty could see a fading image of what Chitz was seeing.

            And just like that, his vision went dark.

            It shouldn’t affect him like it did. It was not like he had not experience complete loss of sight before. But regardless, it shocked him. To have a whole sense just ripped out from under him set his nerves on edge, and tears began to well up in his eyes from the stress of the sensation alone.

            A hand landed on his shoulder. He nearly leaped out of his skin.

            “OK, don’t panic. I’ll get it back, OK, Matty? I gotta hurry though, just sit tight. I’m so, so sorry. This was such a bad idea,” Linel said. He heard Linel start to move toward the hole, and Matty moved after him.

            “Wait!” Matty moved around, feeling for that box he had landed on when he climbed down here. He found it easily enough, stood on it, and then jumped until his hands felt the hole. It was tough to pull himself out, he’d never been very strong, but he managed it. “Wait!” he shouted again.

            Linel didn’t argue, he didn’t even ask why. Matty felt Linel taking his hand. “Keep up then. If you need me to carry you, I will, just be careful.” And like that, they were running full sprint after her. When they began to turn down alleyways, Matty heard Linel cry out to Fin. “What are you doing?!”

            “We need the doctor bad and I! Can’t! Wait!” She screamed back, breathless.

            Matty’s arm felt like it was being pulled out of its socket, and his feet were tripping over anything and everything, but he just kept his legs moving. Linel’s strength kept Matty upright. Soon enough, he knew they were in the streets as people knocked and shoved at them, cursing at the three rambunctious children playing chase. Matty wanted to shout at them, tell them to stop her, but his panting from the running stopped all speech.

            They must’ve ran down another alley. Fin was trying to lose them, and he was sure it was possible with himself now being dragged along. Linel certainly wasn’t going as fast as he could.

            “Shit. Shit. Shit.” He heard Linel mutter as he took turn after turn. “Hold on,” he said, and Matty was suddenly lifted. He was being carried now, piggy back. He felt a protest rise in his throat, but realized that if he could move faster this way, it was for the best.

            And fast they did move. He began to hear Fin muttering, then turning back to shout: “Why are you still chasing me? You know I’m right!”

            “We can’t resort to this!” Linel shouted.

            “Why not? Huh?! Who is he- OH, BALLS!”

            They screeched to a stop. “What’s going on…?” Matty probed, but got no reply.

            Instead, Linel only said, “Dead end, Fin. Hand it over. We aren’t thieves, especially from other kids.”

            “What does he matter, Linel? I’m tired of seeing my friends sick! They’re,” Matty realized she was crying. Her voice was breaking as she spoke. “They’re gonna fucking die, and you care if some blind boy gets his toy that lets him see? He’ll not always have this thing! He needs to get used to it eventually!”

            Matty squeezed his hands, and Linel let him down. It was true. Through all of this, him trying to do things on his own, he forgot that he often needed Chitz to see, relied on Chitz. And was she really wrong, he wondered, for doing this? He had zero question his mama would do the same were she still here. If he was that sick…

            Matty spoke up. “Let her keep-“

            “No. We don’t work this way, Matty.”

            “You heard him!” Fin shouted. “Now move, Linel.”

            “We aren’t criminals.”

            It took Matty a moment to process it. But a deeper voice suddenly came from behind them. “But I am,” it said, casually. Then he heard the words, familiar words of a wright being muttered.

            “Oh no. Oh fuck. Oh no.” Fin exclaimed.

            “Oh, stop whining,” the voice spoke, moving right by him, and Matty knew exactly who it was. “It’s just a little bit of solidity aspect to keep you in place while I take back what belongs to my son and I.”

            Mathis had found him. Matty gulped.

            “S-sorry, sir, I was trying to get it b-back for him,” Linel stammered.

            “Yes, yes.” As Mathis approached, Matty began to see again through Chitz before feeling it being pressed into his hands. “We’ll talk about this later, Matty.” Mathis stared down at him, and Matty could feel the glare burning into him. Looking to Fin, he saw her stuck against the wall with what looked like stones holding her wrists and ankles in place. With a few words, Mathis dissolved the bonds, allowing her back down.

            “Now!” Mathis turned to face them. “If you’ll excuse me, I must return my wandering vagabond back to where he belongs.”

            Finally, Linel seemed to gather his senses. “Hold up. There’s no way you get off that easy.”

            “Excuse me? Get off? Are you accusing me of some crime?” Mathis spun to face Linel. “Huge talk for someone like you who kidnapped my son and then trounced around town with him!”

            “Well, seeing how miserable he is, then yes! I’ll talk as big as I like.” Linel’s voice broke as he spoke, but instead of weakening what he said, it intensified it. As if he was seeing everything a grown adult was blind to.

            Mathis was silent. Matty cringed, waiting for the explosion. “Yes, misery does seem to follow us very well, but I do not see your point.”

            “Then for a wright, you’re pretty stupid.”

            “I realize I am not without fault, if that’s what you’re implying.

            Then, the high pitched voice of Fin broke in, “You are the fucking fault!” She shouted. “Geez! You think we can’t see the red in your cheeks, out drinking in the middle of the fucking day,” but she cut herself off. Matty could see Mathis’s jaw completely dropped at their tenacity, but Matty worried because they, at least, didn’t have to deal with the fallout of it later. For all the temptation of joining them, being rid of his papa and just being independent, he could never. Mathis wasn’t wrong, he did have faults, but their parents, if they had any, would not have chased them down to save them. Nor would Mathis steal from him.

            Mathis sighed, but didn’t argue. Matty was grateful he didn’t. “Let’s go,” Mathis spoke. “If it stops this from happening, I will teach you a normal way of lighting fires, but this?” he gestured at the kids. “This can’t happen again.”

            “Hey, not yet.” Matty stepped back from Mathis. “Do you have the coin purse?”

            “Yes, which will now always be with me now.”

            “Can I have it?”

            “What did I literally just say?”

            “No, Papa, you need to understand. They need it. They need it real bad. Worse than us.”

            Silence again, as Mathis looked at Matty then back at the kids.

            “Fine! Fine!” He exclaimed and shoved the coins to Matty. “If I don’t, I’ll never hear the end of it! I just want to get you back before people _find where we were_.”

            Matty got the hint. If Uaid was found, they’d be on the run all over again. He hurried and scurried past Linel straight to Fin. “I’m sorry you can’t have Chitz,” Matty said. “But this might help a little.” He pushed the coin purse to her.

            She looked at him. Mathis’s toe tapped quicker and quicker behind them, but Matty knew this was all just a show. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have given him the coins in the first place. She took the coins from him.

            “It’ll do something, maybe,” she said. She glanced briefly at Linel, waiting for argument, but he said nothing. Matty returned to the side of Mathis and grabbed his hand. Matty worried about his papa, but at least it seemed his papa worried about him. They were stuck being worried for each other, it would seem.

            “Glad to see this pointless adventure concluded,” Mathis said and led Matty away, but Matty thought it anything but.

            “Papa, we’re out of bread.” Matty said before they turned the corner to leave Fin and Linel’s dumbstruck faces at the oddness of a Plat father and son.

 


End file.
